Speeches

In your group,
think of
at least one
famous speech.

For what reasons do

people write/deliver
speeches?
Think of specific
historical contexts

Important Considerations for Speeches

Context: the circumstances that form the setting for
an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it
can be fully understood and assessed.
Purpose: the reason for which something is done or
created.
Audience: the listeners or spectators at a speech or
performance, or the intended readership for a piece of
writing.

Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have a Dream

Speech August 28th, 1963

"I Have a Dream" is a

public speech delivered
by American civil rights
activist Martin Luther
King Jr. on August 28,
1963, in which he calls
for an end to racism in
the United States.
Delivered to over
250,000 civil rights
supporters from the
steps of the Lincoln
Memorial during the
March on Washington,
the speech was a
defining moment of the
American Civil Rights
Movement.

Rhetoric: The art of using language to

communicate effectively; the means by which an
author/speaker persuades a reader/audience to a
particular action or point of view.
In doing so an author/speaker will frequently make
use of the following three classic Appeals:
EthosCharacter and credibility of the speaker
or writer
PathosEmotions of the audience
LogosUse of reasoning
Inductive (statistics, data, examples, etc.)
Deductive (logic)

Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have a Dream

Speech August 28th, 1963

Rhetorical Devices: techniques that an

author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or

reader a meaning with the goal of persuading
him/her towards considering a topic from a
different perspective.

Rhetorical Device Activity

1) In your group, write the definition of your
rhetorical device.
2) Find and label two examples of this rhetorical
device in your personal copy of I Have a
Dream.
3) When I say, your group will rotate clockwise to
the next group and repeat for the next
rhetorical device.
Good luck!

Rhetorical Devices
Allusion
Alliteration
Antithesis
Anaphora
Metaphor
Simile
Parallelism

I Have a Dream Rhetorical Devices

Review
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